View source for Tattered Cover

{{short description|Bookstore chain in Colorado bought by Barnes & Noble, United States}}
{{coord|39|44|23|N|104|57|23|W|display=title}}
{{use MDY dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Tattered Cover Book Store, Inc.
| logo = Tatteredcoverdoorslogo.png
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| image = Tattered-cover-16th-st.jpg
| image_size = 
| image_alt = 16th St. location
| image_caption = 16th St. location
| company_slogan = 
| foundation = {{start date and age|1971}}
| founder = Stephen Cogil
| location = 1628 16th Street<br/>Denver, Colorado, U.S. 80202-1308
| owners = Barnes & Noble (owned by Elliott Advisors Limited)
| industry = Retail
| locations = 6
| area_served = Denver
| products = Books
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| num_employees = 
| website = {{URL|tatteredcover.com}}
}}

'''Tattered Cover''' is a [[Bookselling|bookstore]] chain in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]]. It was one of the largest [[independent bookstore]]s in the [[United States]]. In July 2024, Tattered Cover became part of Barnes & Noble. Tattered Cover is open seven days a week at all branches, hosts prominent book signings, and is known for its customer service. Together, the stores maintain an inventory of over half a million books. Its [[LoDo, Denver|LoDo]] store houses an events space that can seat over 250 persons, while its [[Colfax Avenue#East Colfax|East Colfax]] store can seat around 100.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hoovers.com/tattered-cover-book-store/--ID__41977--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml|title=Tattered Cover Book Store information and related industry information from Hoover's|date= |year= |publisher=Hoover's}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Tattered Cover Book Store - Flickr - brewbooks (1).jpg|right|thumb|Interior of the [[Colfax Avenue#East Colfax|East Colfax Avenue]] location, a former [[Bonfils Memorial Theatre|theatre]] (2016)]]
[[File:Ground Floor Coffee Shop at The Tattered Cover Book Store Cherry Creek Denver CO 2006.jpg|right|thumb|The first floor Coffee Shop at the [[Cherry Creek, Denver|Cherry Creek]] location (2006)]]
Tattered Cover opened in 1971 in the [[Cherry Creek, Denver|Cherry Creek]] district of Denver as a small {{convert|950|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} bookshop. The original owner was Stephen Cogil, an [[Aurora, Colorado|Aurora]] native who became a Bookstore Consultant. It was purchased in 1974 by [[Joyce Meskis]]. Between 1973 and 1983, it expanded seven times, and in 1986 it moved into and consolidated at a new location in the Cherry Creek neighborhood, which remained open for over 20 years.<ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://www.tatteredcover.com/detailed-history-tattered-cover|title=History of Tattered Cover|accessdate=October 30, 2015}}</ref>

A second location was renovated and opened for business in 1994 in Denver's historic [[LoDo, Denver|LoDo]] (lower downtown) district. In 1995, the Fourth Story Restaurant & Bar opened at the Cherry Creek location. In November 2004, a third location opened in [[Highlands Ranch, Colorado|Highlands Ranch]]. In April 2015, that store relocated to [[Littleton, Colorado|Littleton]]. The Cherry Creek location closed in June 2006 and moved to the newly renovated, long-defunct [[Bonfils Memorial Theatre|Lowenstein Theatre]] on Elizabeth Street at [[Colfax Avenue#East Colfax|East Colfax Avenue]] in Denver. The Fourth Story restaurant did not move to that location and closed in 2006.

Like many independent bookstores, Tattered Cover is a member of the [[American Booksellers Association]], and Meskis served as president of that organization in the early 1990s. Meskis is a former board member of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and is also the recipient of The William J. Brennan, Jr. Award from The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, the PEN/Newman First Amendment Award,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/447|title=Pen/Newman First Amendment Award|accessdate=April 26, 2010}}</ref> the Brandeis Award from [[Privacy International]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.privacyinternational.org/bigbrother/us2003/|title=Privacy International Brandeis Award|accessdate=April 26, 2010}}</ref> and the American Library Association's John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award for Intellectual Freedom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/pio/pressreleasesbucket/immrothmemorial.cfm|title=Immroth Memorial Award winner announced, American Library Association press release, June 2002.|accessdate=April 26, 2010}}</ref>

Meskis announced the sale of the bookstore in 2015 to Len Vlahos and Kristen Gilligan.<ref>{{cite news|title=Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore Is Focused On Succession, Not Just Survival|date=September 9, 2015|authorlink=Scott Horsley|first=Scott|last=Horsley|work=[[Morning Edition]]|publisher=[[NPR]]|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/09/09/437473687/denvers-tattered-cover-bookstore-is-focused-on-succession-not-just-survival}}</ref> In December 2020, Vlahos and Gilligan sold the company to a group of investors led by David Back and Kwame Spearman.<ref name="npr-2020dec10">{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/10/945172214/denvers-tattered-cover-becomes-nations-largest-black-owned-indie-bookstore|title=Denver's Tattered Cover Becomes Nation's Largest Black-Owned Indie Bookstore|website=[[NPR]]|date=December 10, 2020|authorlink=Petra Mayer|first=Petra|last=Mayer}}</ref>
On October 16, 2023, Tattered Cover filed for [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]], and announced that three stores would close and 27 staff would be laid off.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2023/10/16/tattered-cover-bankruptcy-bookstore-denver/amp/|title=Denver's Tattered Cover files for bankruptcy, will close 3 stores and cut 27 jobs|date=October 16, 2023|access-date=October 16, 2023|website=The Denver Post|language=en}}</ref> Sale to [[Barnes & Noble]] was approved by a bankruptcy court in July 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-31 |title=Court Approves Barnes & Noble's Purchase of Tattered Cover|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/95616-court-approves-barnes-noble-s-purchase-of-tattered-cover.html|access-date=2024-11-28|website=Publishers Weekly|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Colorado Supreme Court case===
In 2000 the store resisted, on [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] grounds, a search warrant for records related to purchases made by a customer suspected of illegally manufacturing [[methamphetamine]]. The case made national news, and was eventually decided in the store's favor by the [[Colorado Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freeexpression.org/newswire/0408_2002.htm|title=Tattered Cover Victorious in Battle Against Search Warrant|author=American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression|date=2002-04-08|publisher=Free Expression Network}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8628043461770653869&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr|title=''Tattered Cover v. City of Thornton'', 44 P.3d 1044 (Colo. 2002).}}</ref> Investigators were attempting to establish a connection between a suspect and books found on his premises how to manufacture the drug. The purchase in question was later revealed to be of a book on [[Japanese calligraphy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://members.ala.org/nif/v52n4/bookseller-reveals.html|title=Bookseller Reveals Secret Title|date=July 2003|work=Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom|publisher=The American Library Association}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Commons category|Tattered Cover Book Store}}

==External links==
*{{official|http://www.tatteredcover.com/}}
{{Denver}}

[[Category:Independent bookstores of the United States]]
[[Category:Landmarks in Colorado]]
[[Category:Companies based in Denver]]
[[Category:1971 establishments in Colorado]]
[[Category:Privately held companies based in Colorado]]
[[Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 1971]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1971]]